Friday, April 10, 2009

With the launch of the first ever World Tea Competition came a lot of consumer questions about how to enter and what the judging criteria was.

Because we participated first hand in WTC and are entering teas again this year I thought it might be nice to explain some of the new elements of this year competition.

First of all WTC is an independent competition judged by professional cuppers and commercial buyers. There are 2 categories; hot tea and iced tea, each with its own set of criteria and judges. One change is the addition of 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards, last year there was one winner and then top 5 finalists.

There are specific tea/region categories such as Yunnan or Earl Grey and then general categories like white tea. The categories were developed with the help of industry experts and much debate. Unlike last year there will no longer be any "super" categories, a good thing in my opinion.

Awards for both hot and iced categories will be recognized the evening of Saturday, May 2nd, the first day of this years expo May 2nd - 4th being held in Las Vegas, NV.